2014-01-01

New gTLDs, are you going with the flow, compounding your losses?

When it comes to the new gTLDs, a lot of noise and general BS is now going on, now that the reality is upon us. On the other hand, many in the domain business are clarifying their positions, here's one example:

Lets Set The Record Straight; My 5+ Year Journey Through New gTLD’s | TheDomains.com: "... simply put, my involvement in the new gTLD’s is a result of the program, not my desire for the program. My message throughout the 5+ years New gTLD’s has been they have the potential to be a disruptive force to domain name space as we have known it for over 25 years ... if you’re in the domain business you better figure out a way to get involved, because you think it will be widely successful or just as a hedge against the domain assets you hold. Plain and simple..." (not sure if the author of the above is Mike Berkens or Raymond Hackney whose name appears in the byline.)

Regardless of whether it is Mike or Raymond, my response is as follows -- just because ICANN has made a BIG MISTAKE, you don't have to. What are you, one more lemming running off the cliff? A hedge? A hedge against what? The assets you now hold? If dot coms lose value that does not mean gTLDs will gain value. In fact, the biggest, most likely risk is that gTLDs will not only be mostly worthless for domain investors, but will diminish domain investors' current inventory values. To buy gTLDs under that scenario is NOT a hedge, but compounding your losses!

Since the analogy of a market hedge has been used, here's some good investment advice for 2014, also applicable to the domain space:

Huprich: Wisdom Comes in the Smallest of Packages. | The Big Picture: "... Understanding mass psychology is just as important as understanding fundamentals and economics ... Any dead fish can go with the flow. Yet it takes a strong fish to swim against the flow. In other words, what seems “hard” at the time is usually, over time, right. Don’t make investment or trading decisions based on tips. Tips are something you leave for good service..."-- John Poole, Domain Mondo, January 1, 2014